The following definitions apply to this Chapter: (a) Association roadway means those paved surfaces, except areas designated for parking, which: (1) provide vehicular access to more than 4 dwelling units; and (2) are maintained by a homeowners' association. (b) Homeowners' association means a body that has the authority to enforce a declaration under the state homeowners' association law. (c) Private maintenance road means a road that: (1) is owned by a homeowners' association; (2) has a right-of-way at least 30 feet wide (not including any portion of the right- of-way used for parking), and 2 travel lanes; and (3) provides a direct or indirect general vehicular traffic connection to the County road system.

(a) There is created a program to assist qualifying homeowners associations to maintain association roadways that are continuously open to the public as if they were public roadways. (b) Assistance provided under this Chapter is not subject to Chapter 11B.

A homeowners' association qualifies for assistance under this Chapter if the homeowners' association: (a) has at least one-quarter mile of association roadway; (b) maintains its association roadways at a level of service satisfactory to the County; (c) finances the maintenance of its association roadways with funds collected by the homeowners' association; (d) has a financial officer that is bonded or meets the requirements of financial responsibility that regulations under this Chapter prescribe; and (e) agrees that eligible disputes to which the homeowners' association is a party will be submitted by the homeowners' association to either: (1) the dispute resolution process under Article 2 of Chapter 10B; or (2) other meditation or arbitration approved by the Commission on Common Ownership Communities.

(a) The annual amount that a qualifying homeowners' association may receive under this Chapter is the number of its association roadway miles that qualify for assistance under this Chapter, multiplied by the average locally funded cost to the County of providing maintenance and street lights for a mile of County roadway during the previous year. (b) If an association roadway that qualifies for assistance under this Chapter is initially open to the public for only part of a year, the annual amount of assistance must be prorated for that part of the year for which the association roadway was open.

(a) All expenditures of County funds under this Chapter are subject to the limits of the funds appropriated by the County Council. (b) If the County Council does not appropriate enough funds to cover the number of miles of association roadways that qualify under this Chapter, the amount of assistance for each mile of association roadway is reduced proportionally.

The County Executive must adopt regulations under method (2) to implement this Chapter.

Notwithstanding any association document to the contrary, a homeowners' association, as defined in state law, may amend its bylaws by a vote of a majority of the lot owners. This section applies to bylaws adopted before or after this section became law.

(a) Requirements for assistance. The County may provide maintenance funding assistance to a homeowners' association for a private maintenance road if the homeowners' association: (1) grants an easement to the County for the general free public use of the private maintenance road, which must include a metes and bounds description of the easement certified by a registered land surveyor or a record plat or other legal description acceptable to the County Attorney; and (2) signs an agreement with the County that the homeowners' association must build and maintain the private maintenance road to standards adopted by executive regulation for private maintenance roads. (b) Contents of agreement. In each agreement signed under subsection (a) the homeowners' association must: (1) acknowledge that: (A) granting the easement does not relieve the association of the obligation to maintain the private maintenance road or to provide any other services, such as snow removal, which the association is required to provide by any association document or law; and (B) the easement automatically reverts to the grantor if the homeowners' association does not comply with all terms of the easement and the agreement it signs with the County; (2) indemnify the County against all claims arising from the use or condition of the private maintenance road; and (3) certify that the homeowners' association has obtained and will continually maintain insurance or other surety, in an amount acceptable to the County, covering claims arising from the use or condition of the private maintenance road, and acknowledge that the County may withdraw funds allocated under this section if the insurance coverage lapses. (c) Documents to be recorded. Any easement and agreement signed under this section must be recorded in the County land records. (d) Costs of documents. The homeowners' association must pay all costs of preparing and recording any easement, agreement, or other document required under this section. (e) Amount of assistance to homeowners' association. The County may allocate to a homeowners' association for maintenance of a private maintenance road an amount that does not exceed the net amount, less any inspection fee or any other County expense, of highway user revenues received by the County as a result of the inclusion of that private maintenance road in the State Highway Administration mileage inventory. The homeowners' association must use these funds to maintain that private maintenance road or place them in a reserve fund which can be used only to maintain that road. The County must not assist under this section any road for which it provides assistance under Section 24B-2 through 24B-5. (f) Termination of easement. If the County finds that an easement granted under this section is not in the public interest, or that a homeowners' association has not complied with the terms of an easement or other agreement under this section, the County may, in its sole discretion, withhold or withdraw maintenance funds or reject and terminate the easement, and record documentation of the termination in the County land records. The abandonment procedures in Chapter 49 do not apply to the termination of an easement under this section. (g) No County obligation. Granting an easement under this section does not obligate the County to maintain or pay for the maintenance of any private maintenance road.